Holy f*@!: Swearing alleviates pain

Sometimes I shock even myself with the compound swear words I come out with when striking an elbow against a corner or bashing my head against the top of a doorway. As an uncoordinated and gangly six-foot-plus man, it happens a lot too.

So I was glad to hear that my shameful swearing is helping to alleviate the pain of such knocks. An experiment by Richard Stephens of Keele University in the UK found that people were able to tolerate placing their hand in ice water for longer when continually swearing than another group that did not cuss (Neuroreport, DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0b013e32832e64b1).
Stephens thinks swearing triggers an aggressiveness related to our
fight-or-flight response, which lessens the feeling of pain. This is
backed up by the increased heart rate observed in the swearing group, he told The Daily Telegraph. Previous research also suggests that swearing has a powerful effect on the brain's emotional centre, the limbic system.

But
before you use any of this to justify your potty mouth, Stephens
suggests that the more you swear, the less likely you may be to trigger
an emotional response. Therefore, you could end up feeling pain more
acutely no matter how many four-letter words you say.

This sounds a little like a "science supports convenient pre-conceived assumption" story. Did they control for just general shouting? Was there a group in which they are allowed to shout only randomly selected words or even just meaningless vocalisations as opposed to culturally-accepted "swear words"?

Ha! Because of this particular article, I would have to think that I would be completely PAIN FREE all of the time. I swear like crazy, every single day. I watch Gordon Ramsey on my samsung hdtv and as much as he swears, I would probably cause Gordon Ramsey to get red-faced!

Sorry, gotta go swear again.

Dan

Wai Wong
on July 15, 2009 5:56 AM

The controls chanted a neutral word, while others repeat a swear word.

A report in a renowned science magazine like New Scientists should not have such important information missing. Worse, the link http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0b013e32832e64b1) is broken.